George Clooney sees career shift ahead

WOMEN AND MONEY

It was Soderbergh who imagined Clooney in the lead role of "Leatherheads." He plays Dodge Connelly, an aging star of professional football, circa 1925, whose looks and charm help him woo women but do little to keep his team on firm financial footing.

Just after Dodge calls it quits for lack of money, along comes college star and war hero Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford (John Krasinski) to lure fans and put Dodge back in business.

They both fall for a woman reporter (Zellweger), but true to movie-style romance, only one can win in the game of love.

Unlike the political drama "Good Night, and Good Luck" and the legal thriller "Michael Clayton" -- both nominated for the best film Oscar -- "Leatherheads" is not going to win any awards.

But after acting in the oil and politics drama "Syriana" and last year's serious-minded "Clayton," Clooney (the actor) figured it was time to perform in a film that was fun. Clooney (the director) wanted to show he could make a comedy after proving his deft hand at drama.

"I needed to do something completely different or I was going to become the 'issues director,"' Clooney said. "That sort of ends your career really quickly when the issues change."

So, he "dusted off" the script he had read 10 years earlier and shaped "Leatherheads" into the type of comedy he wanted to make -- lighthearted and certainly not issue-oriented.

Clooney said the toughest part of making the movie was acting and directing himself in the football scenes because often the actor in him would be too bruised to go on, but the director in him knew he needed another take.

But after a long career of mostly acting, he was doing what he wanted -- directing.

"The truth is I'm infinitely more successful than I ever thought I would be," he said. "I really didn't think I was going to be in this position, so I get to push the envelope and do the things I want to do -- and not what I have to do -- for as long as they let me do it."